Aptos: Soquel Drive storm repair complete

Traffic signals are yet to be operational at the intersection of Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road in Aptos. Merchants say temporary stop signs are not readily seen or observed by motorists. (Shmuel Thaler -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

The repair is complete on this part of Soquel Drive in Aptos, where the shoulder slipped away in last winter’s storms. (Jondi Gumz -- Santa Cruz Sentinel file)

APTOS >> Barbara Doan-Crawford and Del Crawford, proprietors at Mulberry Gallery in Aptos, say they hope more customers will return now that repairs for a storm slipout on Soquel Drive — estimated to cost more than $600,000 — are complete.

Part of the Soquel Drive shoulder near the trestle fell away a year ago, and for safety reasons, one lane was blocked off, with a stop light to control traffic.

“I do drive through there,” said Doan-Crawford, who was among those who had to be patient waiting her turn to drive through. “With that slipout, you just have to put up with it.”

John Presleigh, Santa Cruz County public works director, said the repair was “fast-tracked through the emergency opening process approved by the Federal Highway Administration,” with 88 percent of the cost funded by that agency. The total cost is being tallied, he said, and the county public works department must pay the remaining 12 percent.

Presleigh said a walk-through for final inspection took place Wednesday. The project took about four months to complete.

The contractor, Granite Construction of Watsonville, built a mechanically stabilized earth wall, a technology growing in use for situations where space is at a premium.

Doan-Crawford said she’s heard from customers at her shop and in casual conversations with people in Capitola that they have been avoiding the area because of traffic issues.

Her shop is next to the intersection of Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road, on the other side of the railroad track that runs through the community.

Crawford said business owners expected a new traffic light would go in by mid-July.

That hasn’t happened.

Last month, Presleigh predicted the traffic light would be operational by mid-February.

Meanwhile, the temporary stop signs are low to the ground and motorists aren’t seeing them, according to Crawford.

“We have had accidents,” he said.

Nearby, sidewalks and curbs have been installed, improving access to Swenson’s Aptos Village, 69 homes plus New Leaf Community Market, other shops and offices on 11.5 acres, where construction began in 2016. The first town homes are expected to be complete this spring.